They say it never hurts to ask, and Raj Gupta asked. Now, thanks to his persistence — and a local land-use group’s willingness to reconsider one of its most long-standing policies — gas stations in the Sully District will no longer be barred from selling alcoholic beverages.

Gupta owns the Centre Ridge Exxon station, and he initially just wanted approval to add hot dogs to the station’s convenience store’s offerings. Last August, he made his request to the West Fairfax County Citizens Association (WFCCA) Land-Use Committee, which said yes.

But when he tried to obtain a county permit to do so, he learned the filing fee was $10,000. So in September 2014, he returned to the WFCCA seeking permission to also sell beer and wine in the store. Otherwise, explained Boopendra Prakash of TPS, a land-development engineering firm representing the Centre Ridge Exxon, the station would lose money.

Since then, the WFCCA members have been grappling with one of its most strongly held tenets — and one which, for them, has also been a moral issue. For decades, they’ve believed that drivers should not be allowed to purchase alcohol and gas at the same place. They don’t want motorists to easily be able to buy a cold beer and drive away drinking.

The Centre Ridge Exxon is at 6330 Multiplex Drive in Centreville, and Gupta’s owned and run it since 2000. And over the years, a great deal has changed.

“In the 1980s, when 7-Elevens and gas stations couldn’t sell certain food items, the proffer was written that they couldn’t sell alcohol,” said Prakash. “[Now, though], a 7-Eleven across the street can sell five coolers of beer and wine, and it’s the same way for the Shoppers Food Warehouse, 200 feet away.”

So the Exxon wants to convert three or four of its 10 coolers to be stocked with beer and wine for sale. “We have a quick-service food store,” said Gupta. “Most of our customers are local and ask us why we don’t sell beer and wine. It takes them 30 minutes to buy it at Shoppers. So this would give them the service they need and would also give us some more small revenue in these tough times.”

The WFCCA umbrella group (not the Land-Use Committee) discussed the matter at its Jan. 19 quarterly meeting, and At-Large Planning Commissioner Jim Hart — a past WFCCA Land-Use Committee chairman — also weighed in.

“For many years, this committee has been concerned about the sale of alcohol at gas-station convenience stores,” he said. “But things have changed since then. The area’s a lot more built up and we’re the only land-use committee with this policy.”

“That’s not to say you can’t review this on a case-by-case basis,” continued Hart. “Or do you want to revisit the policy? Whatever you do, you need to be consistent.”

WFCCA’s Carol Hawn said there were at least 12 gas stations, over the years, that the committee denied permission to sell alcohol.

“We’re hindering businesses in our area from making revenue,” explained WFCCA’s Ted Troscianecki. “So I think we should shift our position and come up with the times.”

Besides, added WFCCA’s Steve Chulick, “In so many cases, people can just go next door [to a gas station] and buy alcohol.”

Prakash, who was at the January meeting, said the filing fee has now risen to “close to $17,000,” so he was waiting for the WFCCA’s decision before filing with the county. But he hoped it would go in the Exxon station’s favor so it could be competitive with the businesses around it.

The Land-Use Committee was slated to meet and finally vote on the issue Feb. 17. But due to bad weather and icy roads, the members didn’t meet in person. However, they did take action and voted via email.

“The long-standing policy was revised to allow sales of single servings of alcohol,” said Land-Use Committee Chairman Jim Katcham. “The vote was three in favor of policy change, two opposed.”